It’s not often Irwin County gets to celebrate a victory over archrival Fitzgerald.

However, the 2015 Friday Night Football Magazine Team Moms Contest provided Irwin County with that opportunity.

The Irwin County team moms bested their rival team moms from Fitzgerald nine miles down the road to come away with a victory in the FNF Magazine Team Moms Contest, sponsored by Samsung. With a winning prize of $1,000 in the form of a donation to the football program at stake, the Irwin County team moms received 65,274 votes on their way to winning the contest for the state of Georgia. The Fitzgerald team moms had a strong showing as well with 55,383 votes.

“When it got to the final round, that’s when it got a little hectic,” said Irwin County team mom Dene Hogan. “They’re nine miles down the road, and we’re friends with so many of them. They saw our social media, and it became a competition. It was relentless.”

FNF Magazine set out to determine the school that boasted the best collection of football moms through an online vote that ran from July 1 to October 22. As a reward, FNF Magazine and Samsung will make a $1,000 donation to the Irwin Country football booster program. The Irwin County team moms will also be featured with a story and photo in the 2016 edition of FNF Georgia Magazine.

“It became haywire in our town,” Hogan said. “It went through the school, and teachers allowed kids to vote from different computers. That’s how widespread it got.”

Irwin County and Fitzgerald have played each other every season for the last 62 years. Irwin County coach Buddy Nobles and assistant David Vaughn both served as assistants on Fitzgerald coach Robbie Pruitt’s staff. Many of the Irwin County and Fitzgerald players start competing against each other as rec league players. Irwin County’s last win over Fitzgerald came in 1999 – that is, at least, until the 2015 Team Moms Contest.